Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves rose by a healthy USD 1.51 billion to touch USD 279.240 billion in the week to October 11 on account of growth in a key component of the assets, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

This was the second straight week of gains. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 1.46 billion to USD 277.73 billion.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), which form the largest chunk of the reserves, jumped USD 1.527 billion to USD 250.852 billion for the week under review, the RBI said.

FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves.

The gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 21.765 billion in the week ended October 11, according to RBI data.

The special drawing rights dipped by USD 9.6 million to USD 4.430 billion in the reporting week.India's reserve position in the IMF declined by USD 4.7 million to USD 2.193 billion, the data showed.